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babyangelsky · 16 days

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Two Worlds: Novel vs. Series (Part 1)

A few days ago, I mentioned that I had begun reading the novel for Two Worlds because I was curious about the changes that had been made for the adaption. Truthfully, I've been curious about it since the special and enough people liked my post to encourage me to put this together, so here we are!

Few things. Firstly, the official English translation of the novel is only updated through chapter 7 which equates to about episode 3 of the series. Approximately.

Secondly, good god is it convoluted so to make things easier on myself and on you, I'm going to break down the changes to each world in two separate posts and not jump around which is what the novel does.

Thirdly, if you'd like to read the novel yourself, the first seven chapters are available for free here! It's the official translation and updates are a bit irregular but it is being updated! Trigger warning for discussion and sometimes graphic mentions of suicide. Please proceed with caution.

I also have to thank @thainovels for being so lovely every time I've asked them for help. What are the odds the novel updated the day after I asked you for help finding a complete version?!

This is gonna be LONG so to spare your dash and anyone who doesn't wanna be spoiled, I'll begin under the cut.

World 1, aka our starting world in the series

Okay so, broad strokes. One of the biggest differences between novel and show so far is how much time we spend in Phupha's perspective and indeed, in perspectives other than Phupha's or Kram's. We really only get Kram's perspective in the chapters dedicated to World 1 and he's barely appeared in the chapters dedicated to World 2 so far.

This author also really loves to go on a tangent which kinda bugs me in a "I'm a writer too and I wouldn't do things this way dammit" sort of way and while that's my own cross to bear, objectively it does pull focus from the main plot and make the story more confusing than it has to be. Although I do appreciate the insight into the other characters.

How Things Start Off

Unlike the show which opens with Kram painting by the river, the novel opens with Kram trying to make friends with Phupha. At this point it's unclear how long Phupha has been staying at Kram's house but it doesn't seem like it's been very long.

In the show, Kram is the grumpy one who doesn't wanna talk or hang out and Phupha is the more open one, but it's flipped in the novel. Kram is a lonely lil ball of sunshine and he's excited to make a new friend and Phupha's generally very grumpy about his circumstances.

Kram also calls him "your grace" which I suspect is what the translator chose to use in place of "khun chai" since Kram also calls him that in the show a few times. I really wish the show had kept this detail because unlike in the show, Kram uses khun chai playfully and eventually affectionately. It's also worth noting that he doesn't call Phupha "phi" despite their age difference because he doesn't want to create distance between them.

Their first bonding experience is going for a walk just like in the show rather than walk aimlessly in the forest, Kram takes him to see the waterfall that is so central to our story. The locals refer to it as Moonshadow Cave.

We learn that Phupha is afraid of heights (and very traumatized) because of the circumstances surrounding his mother's suicide. He opens up to Kram about it and also tells him why his father sent him to stay with Kram and his father.

At one point, Kram steps onto a little ledge around the back of the waterfall and gently coaxes Phupha to join him so they can see the view. But remember, Phupha is afraid of heights and traumatized so after a few moments he panics and goes to turn back. But he turns back a little too quickly and stumbles and ends up face to face and very close to Kram.

SO THEY KISS ABOUT IT. Maybe it's adrenaline, maybe it's horniness, who knows! Certainly not Phupha!

It's getting late so they come down from the mountain to go home. Kram's head is spinning from the kiss, he's confused, he can still taste Phupha. Phupha's confused too, he doesn't know why the hell he kissed Kram, and just as he's in the middle of telling Kram that it was just the adrenaline and didn't mean anything, they hear something rustling in the tall grass.

The Tiger Incident

Yep. The thing they hear is a tiger smack in the middle of having a deer for dinner. Here is the first of two or three major plot points (so far) that were cut from the adaptation entirely.

They come across the tiger and even though they try to move as quietly and slowly as they can to get away, they don't get very far before the tiger notices them and starts chasing them down. As they're running, Kram falls and hurts his leg. Kram knows of a small cave where they can hide, and They manage to duck into it just in time. Fortunately the entrance is too small for the tiger to follow them in there so they're safe but homeboy is still waiting outside to eat them, so they're forced to stay there until morning or until he gets bored and leaves.

Kram and Phupha snuggle together for warmth because of course they do and in the middle of the night, Phupha realizes that Kram has a fever.

The next morning, Phupha sees that Kram hasn't gotten any better so he decides to go and get help for him. Luckily the tiger is gone, so he leaves the cave and marks himself a path so he can find his way back. When he exits the forest, he sees Kram's dad and a group of villagers talking amongst themselves. They'd been looking for the two of them since they hadn't returned from their walk and are very relieved to see Phupha.

Phupha tells everyone what happened and they go back for Kram, and this is where things get very weird. He notices that the branches he broke to mark his path aren't broken anymore and when he and the villagers arrive at the cave, the weeds that were covering the cave entrance are thicker than they were before. And Kram?

Kram is fucking gone.

He is straight up gone. He is not in the cave where Phupha left him despite being sick and unable to move because of his injured leg. Phupha obviously begins questioning his sanity as a search gets underway.

Fifty people including police search the forest for two entire days to absolutely zero avail. Kram is nowhere to be found. It's like the forest swallowed him whole and Phupha is feeling so guilty and Kram's dad is being so kind and not blaming him at all and it's all very fraught.

The search is paused on the third day because of heavy rain but that's not about to stop Phupha. He needs to find Kram and he's in the forest desperately wracking his mind for every last detail of the path he took from the cave and the surroundings while rain is pouring down on him. He thinks he might've found the right spot and sees a cave, but passes out before he can reach it.

When he wakes up, he's back at Kram's house being tended to by Duandow, Kram's childhood friend (we'll get to her in a bit). First thing he does is ask about Kram and miracle of miracles, KRAM HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS OKAY! His leg wasn't broken and he's in rough shape after not having any food or water for a couple days but he's expected to make a full recovery.

Duandow tells him that the cave Kram was found in--the one Phupha passed out in front of--was in an area that had already been searched by the police and that the locals believe that dark magic blocked the entrance to it, which is why they hadn't been able to find Kram before.

If that sounds really goddamn weird to you, THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS. Something fucky is going on with this forest but there are absolutely no answers I can give you as to the why and the how. The novel hasn't given us anything yet.

Phupha and Kram

Another huge difference between the show and the novel is just how much the relationship between Phupha and Kram progresses and how physical it actually is. In the show we only get a few kisses and some snuggling but they go a lot further in the novel.

A lot further.

After the tiger and the fucky forest trauma bond them, they're hanging out on the mountain near Kram's house one evening and as they get to talking and open up to each other some more, they're interrupted by a swarm of fireflies. Kram tries to catch one for Phupha but can't quite manage it, and somehow they end up very close together again.

SO THEY KISS ABOUT IT. AGAIN.

Not only do they kiss about it, clothes start coming off and things start getting hot and heavy before Kram's dad calls up and interrupts them. He doesn't actually see anything (since they're horizontal and shielded by the brush) but he does notice the state they're in when they come down.

Which leads me nicely to the painting.

The Nude Portrait

Remember the nude portrait Kram did of Phupha? In the show, it comes about after Kram accidentally paints Scarface Tai. Phupha sees the painting and realizes how skilled Kram is and hires Kram to paint him.

In the novel, Kram shows Phupha a spare room where he stores all his works and as they're looking through them, Phupha comes across a nude portrait Kram had done of DUANDAOW. KRAM'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND.

Kram tells him that she had agreed to pose for him one day so he could practice painting figures, as all artists do, and Phupha gets all quiet and grumpy and jealous about it. So what does he do? Hire Kram to paint a nude portrait for him like the one Kram had done for Duandaow.

If you'll recall, this is pretty much what happens in the show when Tai asks Kram do paint a nude portrait of him. He gets jealous because Kram had done one of Phupha and asks for one just like it. It seems like the writers reworked that bit since they also wrote out that Kram had done a portait of Duandaow.

And that's not all they reworked.

The painting session with Phupha in the novel begins the same as it does in the show. Kram is doing his thing while Phupha looks all pretty with his cloth in the river. But just like the nude painting scene with Tai, Kram starts getting distracted because of how good Phupha looks.

And I just have to say, the author always makes a point to describe how beautiful Phupha is, but I especially appreciate them taking the time to tell us that Phupha has lovely ample breasts and pretty nipples. Especially because wiping sweat off those lovely ample breasts is what brings Kram so very close to Phupha for the third time. Except this time, they don't just kiss about it.

THEY FUCK ABOUT IT. RIGHT BY THE RIVER. AND THEN GO RIGHT BACK TO THE PAINTING SESSION WHEN THEY'RE DONE.

In the show, this painting scene is where we get their first kiss but as you have seen, beloved reader, we are several kisses in by this point in the novel

Dilok

It's after this that we cut to Kram's dad's perspective for a bit, and I only mention this because it's so goddamn funny and also serves to highlight a few of important points.

The man is just so endearingly oblivious. He saw how disheveled Kram and Phupha were when they came down from the mountain as I mentioned above and assumes they fought each other after having an argument. This man interpreted two horizontal silhouettes moving together as a FIST FIGHT. He assumes they're angry at each other when they won't even look at each other.

THIS MAN THINKS KRAM AND PHUPHA ARE FIGHTING TO THE DEATH EVERY TIME THEY GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN AND COME BACK LOOKING SWEATY AND FLUSHED AND RUMPLED AND IF THAT'S NOT THE FUNNIEST THING GODDAMN THING I'VE EVER READ I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.

In one instance, Dilok catches Phupha leaving Kram's bedroom early in the morning and believes Phupha when he tells him he "fell asleep" after he and Kram "talked" all night. Dilok even thinks to himself how proud he is that they're so mature and communicate so well! I love Dilok so much, you don't understand.

That aside, however, his hilarious misinterpretation tells us that unlike in the show, Kram and Phupha are fucking on the reg. And bear in mind that Kram still technically has an ash exchange ceremony coming up with Duandaow but before I get into everything with her, I wanted to share this passage where Dilok happens upon both her and Phupha's portraits because it says something important about Kram's relationship with Duandaow. Also because I love it.

Duandaow

Duandaow's presence is yet another major difference between the novel and the show.

The show doesn't tell us a whole lot about her. We know only that she has an ash exchange ceremony coming up with Kram and that when she realizes that Kram has feelings for Phupha, she takes herself out of the equation so they can be together.

The novel gives us so much more. She's featured prominently when Kram disappears in the forest, she cares for Phupha when he passes out, she appears every time Phupha goes to her grandmother's store to get medicine for Kram, and of course there's the fact that Kram painted her.

She has been in love with Kram her whole life. In addition to getting her history, we learn that they've known each other since childhood and that they were very close since they were the only two children in the village that were the same age. And it's partially because there's no one else for either them that being with Kram is a foregone conclusion to her and it's why she assumes that's the case for him as well.

She confesses to Kram and he responds with something along the lines of "Who would I love if not you? It's just us here." It's not an "I love you, too" but she takes it that way. Kram literally has no one else so his response may seem sweet but to me, it reads as him accepting on some level that there's no other option and settling.

I do think he cares deeply for Duandaow but I don't think he's in love with her. Several things drive this home for me (including that passage above) but the one that stands out the most is actually when they lose their virginity to each other.

It happens one day after they go swimming together (at the infamous waterfall I might add). She makes the first move and he hesitates at first but he gets swept up in the moment and it's all very shy and sweet. Thing is, after it happens, Kram keeps things strictly friendly between them. So much so that she thinks the whole thing got wiped from his memory.

And this sense of "who else if not you" persists pretty much their whole lives up until this point. They have an ash exchange ceremony coming up because why wouldn't they? There's no other option. Oh, the comphet of it all.

She isn't stepping aside for Phupha because she doesn't realize there's something between him and Kram. She notices something there that makes her suspicious but those suspicions are nebulous at best. It never occurs to her that they could have any relationship beyond friendship because why would they?

The Other Love Triangle

Phupha has had silent, one-sided beef with Duandaow ever since he saw that painting of her. He's polite to her but just barely, he doesn't make any effort at friendliness or real conversation. He's jealous and he has good reason to be, because he and Kram haven't declared any feelings for each other or had the "what are we" conversation.

Not only that, there is an ash exchange ceremony coming up. Phupha has no idea what that ceremony is until he asks Kram's dad one day and Dilok tells him IT'S A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. Show!Kram had some nerve getting pissy at Phupha for having a fiancee he didn't tell Kram about when Kram had one too!

Here Phupha is, so very in love and in a very physical relationship with Kram, and then he learns Kram is about to get married to someone else. He doesn't know whether Kram returns his feelings, he doesn't know where he stands, there's been no hint of calling off the wedding, so what does he do?

He takes himself out of the equation just like Duandaow does in the show.

Phupha chooses not to confess his feelings to Kram, he spends one last night snuggling him, and then he takes the L and quietly goes back to his life in Rattha.

Oh, what's that you say? You wanted some salt in that wound? How about the fact that KRAM GOES THROUGH WITH THE CEREMONY AND MARRIES DUANDAOW?

More? HE ONLY REALIZES HIS FEELINGS FOR PHUPHA AFTER HE'S ALREADY GONE AND ONLY MARRIES DUANDAOW OUT OF OBLIGATION AND BECAUSE PHUPHA IS NO LONGER THERE.

It's a MESS and there is no resolution for it because the novel translation isn't done!

*screams*

Tai

You might have noticed that I haven't really talked about Tai and that's because he only shows up once in these few chapters we have so far. The ones that take place in World 1, that is. But boy howdy does he come in with a bang when he does. Literally.

When Phupha hires Kram to paint him, Kram asks him to take him into the city as payment. There's an arts festival happening and Kram wanted to go so he could show off his dad's paintings.

Everything is going lovely, everyone is having a good time. At least until Duandaow shows up and Phupha turns into a salty salmon about it but we already talked about her.

The brand new chief of police has been asked to make a speech to inaugurate the festival and a short while after he gets on stage to make it, there is a bang. It's followed by screams and a second bang.

Tai showed up at the festival, shot an officer in the gut, and then killed the chief in cold blood to get revenge for the chief recently killing his father.

Bedlam ensues. People are screaming and terrified and fleeing the scene and Tai is looking to flee the scene too, but it just so happens that Kram is blocking his escape route. Tai shouts for him to move but something comes over Kram and he's not budging. Doesn't matter how much Tai threatens him or how much Phupha pleads with him, Tai belongs to the gang that killed his mother and he ain't moving.

My boy doesn't move even when Tai points a gun in his face. That's how much he hates this man and everything he represents. And Tai fully intends to kill him, but there's a moment where he locks eyes with Kram and something shifts within him.

There's a shot, but because we switch to Duandaow's perspective in that moment, we don't know exactly what happens. We know only that the shot missed and that Phupha rushed to hug Kram to his body and shield him from the shot.

Kram was in point blank range. There was no way in hell that shot missed unless that's what Tai intended. But that's all we've gotten of Tai in World 1 so far so there hasn't been a chance to dig into anything more.

The Stabbing of Viroj

There's one more thing I wanna mention, which also happens to be the stopping point for the translation at this time.

In the show, in World 1, Phupha's biological father Viroj gets attacked after Phupha and Kram go talk to him about the incident in the gallery with Tai and the conversation Phupha had with his father.

In the novel, that conversation with Adisak and Phupha's aunt and stepmother takes place right after Phupha goes back to Rattha and for the subsequent conversation with Viroj, Phupha is obviously alone.

The circumstances that precede the stabbing at a little different but that's a whole other tangent so I'm not gonna get into it. The rest of it is largely the same as in the show.

Someone breaks in, stabs Viroj, Phupha hears a scream and comes upon the scene, he has the realization about his hemophilia, he calls an ambulance and the police.

Only a few details are different. In the novel, he does actually manage to call for help but help never comes so he decides to take Viroj to the hospital himself. Unfortunately Viroj dies before Phupha can take him.

After his death, Phupha calls his dad Adisak to tell him that someone killed Viroj and to ask him to call for help. Adisak does, and when Phupha gets a call from the paramedics asking for more information, the paramedic asks where the patient was stabbed.

Problem is, Phupha never told Adisak that Viroj had been stabbed. Phupha immediately suspects that Adisak knows more about the attack than he let on and was possibly even behind it.

This is as far as the translation has taken us so I have to stop here. Sometime before the finale I'm gonna write up part two to this absolute saga, which will be the differences between World 2 in the novel and show.

If you've read this far, thank you. You're lovely and I love you. ❤️

#two worlds #two worlds the series #two worlds spoilers #two worlds novel #two worlds novel spoilers

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astersofthesky · 30 days

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It's been hours since I discovered that this exists and yet it still feels so surreal. L felt such huge anguish that his heart was aching inside his chest at failing to save Maki from being kidnapped and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is "Light... It hurts. My heart—" and honestly, I felt like being punched repeatedly on the gut because this is honestly... *breathes* I am in awe and in disbelief because why would L speak Light's name like this, when Light was the reason why he's dying now?? Why would he confide in him, when Light had only shown him fakeness and lies since they met. It's so easy to think of all the evil things Light had done to him yet L doesn't think of any of those things.

He wasn't even thinking in this scene because all he can register is how his heart hurts and that it was telling him to speak Light Yagami's name, no matter how absurd, how silly, or how pathetic it seems. Because like Light, people NEVER sought him beyond the great detective L. No one bothered to know him beyond the gothic letter on their screens. Which honestly, isn't their fault because L kept them at arm's length.

But somehow, someone forced L's arm to minimize that distance and he's left with Light and his deceptive yet all-knowing eyes that managed to understand L. And it's so effin funny that a twisted individual like Light was the only person to actually see beneath the iceberg that is L. The one that caused his demise. It's so sick and ironic that Light is the one person who L thinks can understand his pain. He didn't think of Watari, his father-figure.

He thought of Light. Because at this place, at this point, he knew no one would understand his pain, his ideals, his everything, the way they didn't understand Light and his twisted sense of justice and his genuine distaste for the judicial system and how childish his black-and-white morality is EXCEPT L himself.

He called Light's name because deep down he knew, only Light would be able to understand the pressure and the lies the facade he'd been wearing all this time.

It's honestly insane how these two has something worse than romance, and that no matter what universe, no one really wins because all that is left of the other is the empty, shallow void caused by the other person's non-existence.

Lawlight, you both got some toxic codependent sht and honestly i'm here for it.

#death note #lawlight #l change the world #they're insane you're honor #these two are the worst of soulmates to have ever graced this eart #they're both the moth and the flame #i haven't read l change the world btw but i have seen the movie so i have a general idea what happens #and also saw bits and pieces how L WORE LIGHT'S WATCH ALL THROUGHOUT THE NOVEL #THAT NEVER FAILS TO MAKE ME SCREAM BECAUSE HELLO THAT IS SO INTIMATE???

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luxaofhesperides · 4 months

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For ghost lights prompts: eldritch/creepy/weird Danny + shy/flustered Duke + hand holding

Your ghostlights fics are giving me so much joy RN I cannot express how much, if this prompt doesn't spark a brain worm for it I get it but I'm excited to read all the others you may wind up posting

There’s a new kid at West Robinson High School.

This normally wouldn’t be a big deal. They get plenty of new students, being an average high school; not prestigious like Gotham Academy, but not terrible like some of the schools in the lower South Side. New kids are hardly anything to make note of, but something about this student has everyone paying attention to him.

It’s not charisma. The guy doesn’t talk to anyone. It’s not attractiveness, because no one really knows what he looks like under the tattered hoodie he wears all the time. It’s not curiosity, not really, because the student body moves around him like he’s dangerous, not like they want to pry all his secrets out into the open.

It doesn’t help that Duke sees things around him.

He considers briefly telling someone about it, but then remembers having to argue for returning to West Robinson High School instead of being put in Gotham Academy and decides that Bruce can continue to mind his own business. It’s not like this new kid has done anything bad (yet) and Duke can handle investigating this on his own.

So he watches, catching glimpses of the new kid—Danny Fenton—in hallways during passing period, hiding away at lunch, disappearing into the streets as soon as the school day is over. They even share a class together, French Language and Culture, but Danny is always in the back corner, ignored and made invisible by everyone else.

Well. That’s not quite true.

There are shadowy figures that surround Danny and they never leave him alone. Even when he’s got his arms folded on his desk, head down, looking as if he’s asleep, these figures pull at the hood covering his head or reach semi-transparent hands down to pet his hair. And Danny reacts to them, lightly batting their hands away or turning his head away from them.

Duke has no idea what they are. Ghosts are his best guess, but he can’t confirm it. As far as he knows, ghosts are magic and can only be seen by magic users, which Duke very much is not. They do lead to cold spots, keeping the temperatures noticeably colder around Danny, and make the shadows darker, which only makes other students more nervous about being near Danny.

Through his week of observing Danny, beyond the ghostly figures and visible unease he causes in everyone, what Duke learns is that Danny is lonely.

No one talks to him. People barely look at him. Teachers avoid calling on him when they can.

And Danny accepts it. He fades into the background, keeps out of the way, shrinks in on himself.

No one else sees it. No one else wants to see him.

It’s breaking Duke’s heart, just a little bit.

He’s lucky that he’s not an outcast at school. With his meta gene awakening and his free hours taken up by Bats and fighting crime, it’s hard to have much of a social life, but he still has a few friends during the school hours he can hang out with. Danny doesn’t have anyone, and the more Duke sees how isolated he is, the more upset he becomes.

Which brings him to step two of his investigation: befriend Danny.

So what if he has some ulterior motives! He also just wants to give this guy someone to hang out with! What little glimpses of Danny’s face he’s able to get show him a tired teenager, worn down the way Alley kids are when they’re at the end of their rope and have nothing left to give.

Duke’s first attempts at befriending Danny fail so fast it’s almost funny. It’s as if Danny knows when someone is seeking him out, because every time Duke goes to where he is, Danny up and disappears, hurrying away and vanishing in the crowded hallways, or in the alley a few buildings past the school, or into the fucking restroom, which is always empty when Duke goes in after him. Trying to use his powers to see where Danny goes next doesn’t help either; all he sees is some glowing figure resembling Danny walk through walls, which is either due to Danny being a meta or from Duke’s powers deciding to be unhelpful.

He’s about to resort to Tim level stalking to finally have a conversation with Danny when his French teacher blessedly (and unknowingly) aids him on his mission.

“Find a partner, everyone!” she instructs with a clap of her hands near the end of class. “This is a translation project, and you’ll be doing them in pairs to check each other’s work and decide how to best interpret something into English. If you don’t have a partner in the next minute, tell me and I’ll assign you someone.”

The class is a flurry of movement just as the last word leaves her mouth, friends turning to each other or running across the room to make sure they’re partnered up before anyone else can butt in.

No one looks at Danny. Which means Duke can just skirt along the wall of the classroom until he’s next to Danny, gently knocking on his desk to get his attention.

Danny looks up, and Duke sees a flash of blue before Danny averts his gaze, tilting his head down again. “Yeah?” he says, and his voice is much softer than what Duke imagined. He expected something hoarse and rough, a little deep, intimidating. Instead, it’s gentle and quiet and smooth.

It’s a nice voice. It’s a shame that no one else has really heard it.

“Wanna be partners?” he asks, as if he’s offering a choice. They both know no one else is going to ask Danny, and if he wants to avoid talking to the teacher, then he has to work with Duke.

Danny sighs. “Sure.”

And then he puts his head back down on the desk.

Duke backs off. This is the best he’s going to get right now. Now that he’s got an excuse to spend time with Danny, he can take his time breaking down his walls and getting to know him. He watches as a figure from the usual group that hangs around Danny breaks away and gently brushes a hand against Danny’s arm. Then they turn to Duke and reach for him.

He moves without thinking, stepping out of the way. The shadowy figure fades back, almost invisible even to his eyes, and Danny’s turned his head to lay his piercing gaze on Duke.

…There’s no way that blew his cover, right?

He didn’t just reveal one of his meta abilities from taking a single step to the side. No way.

But Danny’s eyes are a deep blue that seem almost endless as he keeps his attention on Duke. It feels as if he’s staring into Duke, seeing more than what he wants to reveal.

“Alright, looks like everyone’s found a partner! As you head out, be sure to grab a practice packet from my desk to work on some translation. There are due the next time we meet, and I will be handing out your individual passages once these have all been turned in.” Their teacher sets a large stack of papers onto the corner of her desk, then gets to work erasing the whiteboard just as the bell rings.

Students grab their bags and rush to take one of the packets before heading out to their final class of the day. Duke stays behind with Danny, waiting for most of the class to leave before swinging his backpack onto his shoulder and grabbing a packet for both of them.

He hands one to Danny, who takes it with some hesitancy and a quiet, “Thanks.”

He leaves before Duke does, and though it’s only a second between his leaving and Duke stepping out the door, Danny’s already vanished from sight.

As soon as school ends, Duke heads for the Hatch, hoping a quick evening patrol will help clear his mind. It’s a quiet evening, though, so he’s left with his thoughts more often than not, staring out over the city long enough that Oracle asks him if he’s alright.

Against his better judgment, he says, “I’ve been looking into something, but I’m not finding much. Can you do some research on Danny Fenton?”

Oracle is already typing before he finishes asking. “What am I looking for?”

“Anything. He’s… strange. I don’t know if he’s a meta or just lightly haunted. But there’s something up with him.”

“Do we need to be keeping a closer eye on him?”

Duke considers. None of them ask Oracle to look into specific people unless they’re dangerous. But danger is not the sense Duke gets from Danny. It’s more like he’s hiding, shying away from the world, constantly on edge. “No. If anything, he might be in danger. Something happened to him, because no one ends up like that by living an average life.”

“I’ll let you know what I find. Turn in for the night, it’s quiet out and you’re too distracted to patrol properly.”

“You got it, O.” He salutes the nearest camera, knowing she’ll see it, and makes his way back to the Hatch to change back into civies and get started on his homework.

When he next goes into his French classroom, all the desk has been rearranged so they’re all in pairs, side by side. Already, patterns are filling up the desks, so Duke heads for the back and sits down where Danny usually hides away. He’s not here yet, which is making Duke realize that he’s never actually seen Danny walk into the classroom and head to his seat.

Did he just never pay attention? Has Danny always just slipped in unnoticed until attendance was taken? How did Duke miss that?

There’s movement in the desk next to him. Duke goes to say that he’s waiting for his partner, so please sit somewhere else, when he realizes that it’s Danny who managed to sneak in yet again.

“Hey,” he says after a moment, hoping his surprise is hidden.

There’s a pause, and then Danny returns, “Hey, Duke.”

That’s all they have time for before class is starting and their teacher goes around to collect homework. She then hands out new packets, each one a different section of L’Ecume des Jours, and gives them the rest of class to begin working on translating it.

Duke is already dreading it as he flips through the three pages they were given to translate, stapled to each other beneath the two page instructions of how to format the final translation, how to document their previous translation drafts, and what to include in the reflection essay.

There’s no way he can get all of this done in a week.

On the other hand, it gives him a week to learn more about Danny. He needs to make the most of it.

“This is a lot,” he comments, hoping to prod Danny into conversation.

Danny shrugs.

“Can we work on this together after school today? Or do you have plans?”

“We can work on it today,” Danny says, voice barely louder than a whisper. He’s already scanning the pages, underlining certain words and phrases.

Duke hurries to get to work as well, trying to parse out meaning from the text through single words scattered on the page.

Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie, vous?

J’apprends des choses, dit Colin. Et j’aime Chloé.

Duke nods to himself. He definitely doesn’t know French. Well, he knows qu’est-ce que. He knows vous. He know j’apprends and j’aime Chloé. Also dit Colin. Fairly simple, but with the missing pieces to the rest of those sentences, he really doesn’t know what’s going on beyond the fact that it’s a conversation and Colin loves Chloé.

When he glances at Danny’s desk, he’s shocked to see that his partner is already translating the first few lines into something that reads like normal English.

“Oh, wow,” he says, leaning over to get a better look, “You’re definitely better at this than I am.”

“I just like languages,” Danny replies, turning his paper so Duke can read it more easily.

“Have you been hiding your French skills this entire time? I could have definitely used your help before this.”

Danny goes still for a moment, eyes flicking towards his right where a shadowy figure has placed a hand on his shoulder. Then he turns to fully face Duke and says, “Better late than never. What do you need help with?”

“Everything.”

His immediate answer makes Danny smile, and he begins talking in that soft, soothing voice of his. He talks about not trying to translate everything into English immediately, but to understand the French and take it in as a whole language itself. He talks about getting the idea of the text first, the feeling of it, before trying to fit it into English. He talks about splitting up the text into sections to make it easier.

And then he reads the text, entirely in French, and Duke did not have a thing for voices or multilingualism before this, but he sure does now.

“Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie, vous?” Danny reads, reaching the end of the first page. The syllables come to his easily, his French smooth and steady. “J’apprends des choses, dit Colin.” His eyes dart up, off the page, and fix Duke in place. “Et j’aime Chloé.”

Duke has never been happier that he doesn’t blush so visibly with his dark skin because he feels downright romanced. It’s a mix of the French, of Danny’s addictive voice, of their closeness, of how intimate this dark corner of the room feels, tucked away from the rest of the class.

“We can work on the other pages after we finish translating this one,” Danny says, leaning back at bit.

Duke nods, swallowing to chase away the dryness of his throat. “Sounds like a plan!”

They work in silence for the rest of the class period, and once the bell rings, Danny says, “I’ll wait for you by the bus stop down the street,” before he slips out of reach and disappears into the throng of students heading to their last class.

He’s beginning to think that he’s in way over his head. Duke can handle being in the middle of all the action, risking his life, fighting for others. He can handle staring down rogues and criminals and Gnomon. He can’t handle feelings and romance and other such things. Those are much scarier than a criminal shooting at him. At least with the criminal, he knows what to do and doesn’t just freeze up like he did with Danny.

The school day ends faster than he’s prepared for. As promised, Danny waits for him by the bus stop down the street, where other students are also waiting.

They don’t wait for a bus, though. Danny just meets his eyes and begins walking away, leaving Duke to follow after him, matching his pace so they can walk side by side.

The shadows in the alleyway seem to reach towards them as they walk down it. Something about it doesn’t feel right, so Duke tries to quietly use his powers and force them back.

He only has time to think, Oh, that was a bad idea, before Danny is shoving him against the wall, getting them both out of the way as a shadow solidifies and lashes out at them. He’s kept in place by strong hands on his chest, and Danny’s eyes are glowing lightly as he hisses at the shadows, making them rear back and settle down once more.

As if given permission to reveal themselves, more shadowy figures and strange movements in the shadows emerge, surrounding them.

“Danny, I don’t mean to alarm you, but—”

“I know,” Danny says. “I thought you might be able to see them too. Which is not good.”

“Sorry, man, it’s not like I can turn it off.”

“It’s fine. Just be more careful. They like me because I’m like them, but you just register as a threat. Either that, or prey.”

“Great,” Duke replies weakly, “Those are my favorite things to be. Are we… are we safe to move?”

Slowly, Danny steps back, no longer pressed right against Duke. Nothing moves to attack him, but it might be due to the glare fixed on Danny’s face, eyes still glowing.

“They’ll leave me alone, so…” He reaches a hand out, looking away. The hoodie isn’t able to hide the way his cheeks go red. “Don’t let go and we’ll be fine.”

“I hope this isn’t to lead me to my doom,” Duke jokes nervously as he accepts Danny’s hand, holding it tightly.

Danny wiggles his fingers, making him loosen his grip, and then their fingers are lacing together. Duke stares down at their hands, wide eyed, and hopes he doesn’t look as flustered as he feels.

“Not to your doom,” Danny reassures. “Just a coffee shop I thought you’d like.”

“Well, then, lead the way!”

“Allons-y,” Danny replies.

Stealing glances at him as they walk, ghostly figure and shadow shrinking away from them, all Duke can think is that he doesn’t need to worry about Danny being evil. His immediate instinct to protect Duke has proved that. He’ll keep the investigation going, though, to make sure Danny is safe from others that could hurt him.

Strange and unsettling as he may be, Danny’s also a smart, kind person who deserves more.

Duke is determined to make sure he gets it.

And if he gets a crush along the way, that’s his business and his business only.

It looks like Step Two: Befriend Danny is finally complete. He’ll figure out the other steps later. For now, he has an evening of French in a coffee shop to look forward to.

#ghostlights #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp fic #prompt fill #my writing #im glad youre enjoying my ghostlights fics so much!!! im having a blast writing them #thank u for giving me more propaganda to spread for the ghostlights agenda <3 #this could easily continue into a much larger fic that goes into danny relocating to gotham for his protection #and start mixing in dc's spirit world with danny phantom's ghost zone/infinite realms #its kinda two stories in one tbh #1: danny trying to protect his kind classmate from ghosts and gotham spirits leading to supernatural shenanigans #2: duke trying to protect this clearly hurt and lonely person which leads to getting him accidentally roped into superhero shenanigans #both are the protagonists of a ya novel where they stumble into a secret for the sake of protecting one person #idk if im getting that across well but if u know the vibes then u know what im talking abt

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project-catgirlpillar · 1 year

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I think Viewing Monika as some Kind of evil Mastermind does her character a huge disservice for multiple reasons but also Just cause it ascribes her a Level of competence she simply does Not display

#like i just watched a video essay critizising ddlc #and they had a ton of complaints about the plot most of which boil down to greatly overestimating how powerful monika is #like no she is not in fact a god of her world who created the game she is just another character #forced to deal with the fact she was given self awareness #monika not having a route isn't her own fault for not simply writing one for herself #she actually tries to do that #in act two monica isn't keeping up the charade of this being a normal functional visual novel for shits and giggles #but because she's kinda trying her best to keep it together #and iirc she didn't stop with that cause she got fed up but cause she broke most of the rest of the game #and saying she goes from 'basically hitler' to contrite is just not fair to her #she was a teenager who got forced to deal with her reality being fake and then given one 'real' thing to cling to #and a power she didn't really know how to use properly that could change it #sorry that just kinda annoyed me #idk man #ddlc #doki doki literature club #monika ddlc

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not-poignant · 1 year

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Worldbuilding and Writing Fiction are two separate skills.

Someone reblogged one of my shitposts yesterday (the one about intimidating myself out of worldbuilding) expressing confusion in the tags about how anyone could be intimidated out of writing through worldbuilding too much.

This was kind of baffling to me, because I think I've seen it 50-60 times now, especially with new, ambitious writers who are starting off with deep fantasy or science fiction projects. When you talk to them, they've often sunk months or even years of worldbuilding into the project, but when you ask how far they've come on the fiction side of things, they usually have writer's block, haven't started writing the story, or say they're not ready yet. 'I'm starting soon' is a common refrain. 'I just have a little bit more left to do.'

The main reason for this - I feel - is that worldbuilding and writing are two different skills. Someone who spends 5 years worldbuilding has learned how to get really good at worldbuilding, but that doesn't mean anything about how good their writing will be. Many folks think worldbuilding will automatically make a story better, but sometimes worldbuilding can become unwieldy and stressful, especially in the case of a) entirely new worlds / secondary world fantasy, or b) complex worldbuilding. Definitely not talking about contemporary romance here, lol. (Though no shade to that, I've had a lot of fun worldbuilding for those stories too).

Going from worldbuilding to writing is launching into an entirely new space. If you find writing new stories easy, that won't be a problem for you, in fact you may not even have realised they're too different skills before now.

If you find writing new stories intimidating, sometimes having hundreds or thousands of things about your world to try and constantly remember can feel overwhelming and mess with the executive function needed to start a chapter.

In some cases, worldbuilding can make it much easier to start a story. But it really depends on what you're needing to do. If you're just writing a contemporary story where you need to research two characters and two jobs, you're generally going to be just fine.

If on the other hand, you have the equivalent of a 500 page Wiki behind-the-scenes, it can feel overwhelming very quickly.

New writers fall into this trap the most, I feel. They become accustomed to what worldbuilding feels like, and they hedge on writing the actual fiction, because they just have more experience worldbuilding and keep waiting for their confidence in worldbuilding to become 'confidence in starting the story.' It doesn't work that way. They're different skills.

They might even be better at worldbuilding than writing! But that just means - if they really want to be a writer - that writing is the skill they really need to work on the most. That can be a comfort zone issue too. It can also be a 'only about 5-10% of all this work will ever appear in the story' issue, where folks want to share the worldbuilding more than the characters or plot, and therefore are just not inspired to work on their story. It can be a 'I want this story to be as good as my worldbuilding' issue. It can be a 'I find the worldbuilding part easy' issue. There are lots of reasons people stall out in worldbuilding and then feel intimidated to write the actual story.

This can also happen with established writers who become aware that the more they know about their world, the more they don't know about their world. It can start to feel like - if you write 10 articles for yourself, you end up with 100 more to write. If you write those 100 articles, you have another 300 to write. Worldbuilding never ends. Worldbuilding can be endless, and if you're an immersive writer, you can get lost very easily in the details, or in not knowing what details are critical and what details aren't. (A hint here is that you'll figure that out really fast when you start writing).

Stalling in worldbuilding can be a lot of things, it can tell you that there's something broken in the world, something broken in the story, it can tell you more about your insecurities, it can tell you how good you are at one skill and where you might need practice in another. It's super informative!

But, generally speaking, the advice I tend to give to many new writers is to try not to let your worldbuilding period last too long. Ideally, put a timer on it and see how it feels to start writing your story once the timer has gone off (3 months, 6 months, 3 weeks, put it in your phone or in your calendar, and start the first chapter, or some random scene, once that time is up).

If, after that period of time lapses, you still aren't ready to start your story, something bigger might be going on. It's an opportunity to dig deeper into the situation. And sometimes just ask yourself if you're using the idea of a novel as an excuse to do what you love most: Worldbuilding. If that's the case, there are other jobs you can parlay a solid worldbuilding ability into. It doesn't have to lead to novels. :)

But yeah it's super super common for many writers to stall out between worldbuilding and writing, and to feel overwhelmed by their own worldbuilding.

New writers get affected by it the most based on observation and hanging around writing forums, and the advice that gets asked quite often specifically on 'when do I go from worldbuilding to writing the story,' but established writers experience it too, because as Gene Wolfe once said to Neil Gaiman: "You never learn how to write a novel, Neil. You just learn how to write the novel you are on."

#on writing #on worldbuilding #dodgy advice #worldbuilding and writing are two different skills #and writing one novel in one world #doesn't necessarily teach you how to write another novel in another world #likewise worldbuilding doesn't teach you how to write the novel that will follow #it just gives you a lot of meat for the structure itself #some folks don't notice a difference and never realise they're different skills #some people just notice that worldbuilding makes things easier #and for the rest of us it can definitely be a mixed bag

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finalgirlsamwinchester · 20 days

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like, ultimately, spn could never actually break the cycle of abuse and familial violence, bc to truly break the cycle would've required its writers to have the radical imaginary to look beyond the status quo. the show just reifies the idea of a paternal authority over the world. god dies but he has to be replaced you see, but it's okay, it's someone better now. family is hell but now family is also heaven.

#american liberal belief that you can make the world a better place if you just vote in someone better #OK that is. enough nonsense from me today #how i would've ended spn: no more god no more demons or angels or heaven or hell or the supernatural. only reality!!!#sam and dean go on a road trip but they go see something fun like that biggest ball of twine again. they get out of the car.#(dean off in the distance laughing. he looks carefree for the first time in a while) (sam is smiling with him)#sam looks back at the impala and you're left with the weird feeling the two of them are just. not gonna get back into it. END SCENE #anyways. more motivation for me to work on my own wips #yeah here's two horrible siblings but how do i write them out of the maze in a way that matters!!#^ comical realisations at returning to old novel drafts post experiencing spn. maybe sam and dean have always lived here #even before i knew them........#j.txt

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save-the-data · 1 month

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Two Worlds | S01E06

Thai Drama - 2024, 10 episodes

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the-woman-upstairs · 5 months

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Favorite Horror Novels I Read in 2023:

#horror #horror novel #i need a reading tag #horror books #mister magic #dark harvest #the cabin at the end of the world #camp damascus #i think Brother was the most surprising for me in how much i loved its awful nastiness and gut punch ending #but props to Rachel Harrison for making a story about how your mother loves you enough to make you hate her #and never be nostalgic for a home that will gleefully kill you #two out of the three books here have terrible film adaptations #bones and all innocent #especially since Luca Guadagnino worked overtime to make the movie about queer life on the margins #john waters and i agree: timothee was doing his best impersonation of a butch lesbian #also loved that Mister Magic was basically IT fanfiction on a campaign against Mormonism

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texasbama · 4 months

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Okay but hear me out…

#i need him to have another role with this hair. he needs to play a villian.#or like the lead in a romantic drama. a tortured artist who is extremely talented but has his walls up emotionally and won’t let anyone in.#but then he meets this guy. this guy who seems like the exact opposite of him. he’s sunshine. sweet. Ryan’s character is drawn to him and he #can’t help it. then there is this whirlwind passionate relationship. then….the lover dies. he had a terminal illness. cue extra angry #artist who is mad that he opened up his heart again only to lose this person. he struggles with seeing the good in the world without his #person. fast forward to later in the grieving process he finds a letter from #the person and its all sad but also romantic and leaves the character feeling hopeful. the character starts creating art again after not #creating anything in the year or two since his lover died. cue end credits #this sounds like a nicholas sparks novel dont it? LMFAOOO #eddie’s host

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fullscoreshenanigans · 4 months

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I just think about it but the whole Ray's plan at the beginning would have failed in so many ways.

Connie could have wondered where was her plushie at the moment of crossing the door.

Imagine if Emma and Norman have run into Isabella on the way to the gate (because she would have heard them by exemple) and tell "mama, Connie forget her plushie" so Isabella would have took it and say "Connie meets her parents right now. It's better to not bother her. I'll put it with his baggage"

Can you imagine if they were come back to Ray, saying "don't worry, we meet Mum on the way and she took it"

Ray: *internal screaming*

I mean Connie was the LAST shipment before Ray. It was 3 months, more or less, before his own shipment. If he had failed, what could he have done? Said the truth? Would Emma and Norman believe THAT without seeing it? Well all the others escapees believed it. But Emma was deeply attached to Isabella, she had need to see the demons to believe it.

But i understand that making his plan tro motion when let's say Hao was shipped (i think it was him before Connie?) would have given more time, and mayvbe on security if his plan had failed to re-do it the next time, but then Emma would have to accept Connie's shippement if they were not ready. Sacrifie her to save all the others. Pretty sure that she wouldn't have, and i don't even speak about Don here.

(Continued)

It's kinda sad to think that, even if the escapees managed to run away from the farm, happy to be free, happy that Ray is alive and all, their survival wasn't assured until they got in the bunker and even before, until they meet Sonju and Mujika. I mean without Sonju and Mujika, Emma could have died of infection and Ray would have been killed by demons, few hours after have been saved by Emma and few MINUTES after have decided to live for his family. (Sonju saved him just in time) The escape would be over very quickly for them. Not sure that the other kids would have managed to survive alone, without their big siblings to guide them :/ (meaning they wouldn't have reached the bunker at all or at least a lot later) (meaning that Yuugo would have killed himself) (Goldy Pond wouldn't have succeeded as well that in canon, a lot more would be dead) (and can you imagine Norman's reaction after his escape TT)

The first thing I usually think of is what a crapshoot Ray's idea is to have Emma and Norman go to the gate with Little Bunny in the first place.

On the one hand, it's a testament to his faith in them.

On the other hand, he is so disproportionately lucky on his bet that the demons wouldn’t pick up on their scents right away. He had, at best, fragmentary knowledge of demon physiology from his earliest months where maaaybe he could remember how well their sense of smell worked?

(Chapter 28; we're not going to think how they were paying special attention to him as Isabella the youngest mom in the history of the Grace Field and who's off limits to eat's child, so he's the next best thing as her progeny if he ends up not being good enough of an offering for the demon god)

The only reasons the two lackey demons don’t come after Emma and Norman right away are they’re caught up in conversation and probably a bit intoxicated off the idea of being able to eat even "just a fingertip" of Conny (and being charitable to Isabella, she probably doesn’t notice them sneak away because she’s grappling internally over seeing the life of another child she raised for five years snuffed out and having to keep up an iron façade about it.)

I like to joke that Emma is integral to the escape plan for her sheer obstinate railroading of any hiccups of probability, most egregiously expressed in it securing someone with a Minerva pen who was willing to give it up for them so they weren’t left wandering aimlessly outside the walls of Grace Field, who only got the pen in the first place because she lit off a lantern as a child that a Minerva supporter happened to come across by coincidence,

(Comic of Krone's childhood earned from completing the aptitude test on the official site; reprinted in The Promised Neverland Art Book World)

and bringing two of the only few demons in the entire demon world who won’t eat them for different reasons to their aid when they most desperately needed it, and that only happened because Leuvis was bored one day 700 years ago and decided to help his brother and his brother's new girlfriend escape the imperial capital by bringing them his horse in the third light novel. I love TPN.

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princesskealie · 6 months

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hi lovelies! how has your autumn been? 🍂

it's that time again for my mom's doctor appointment tomorrow, so if you can, please send any prayers/good vibes her way that it goes well so she can have a worry-free holiday season! 🙏

#personal #i finished writing my second novel! this one's a psychological thriller #it's a pretty dark and gritty read but it has a lot of Important™ things to say so i just NEED it to make it out to the world someday ;-;#i've already got an idea for my next one though and it's a total 180...a fantasy romance bahaha #i attended two conferences this fall!! i had to pitch my books to agents which was TERRIFYING but...for! the! dream!#i hope you all are well and taking care of yourselves! let's finish the year strong <3

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babyangelsky · 14 days

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Two Worlds: Novel vs. Series (Part 2)

In my first post in this little series, I went over some of the differences between the novel for Two Worlds and the show. The novel is very convoluted and a lot of changes were made so in that post I only covered the changes to World 1 and now I am here to do the same for World 2.

Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read that absolute monster of a breakdown, I appreciate you a lot 💖

As I stated previously, the official English translation of the novel is only updated through chapter seven, which equates to roughly episode 3 of the show and can be found here. (Trigger warning for discussion and sometimes graphic mentions of suicide)

Okay, let's do this!

World 2, aka the world Kram travels to in the series

Generally speaking, there haven't been as many changes to World 2 in the novel as there were for World 1. There also hasn't been as much that has been cut entirely, with one exception which I'll go over.

Of course, I suspect that might just be because of how early it is in the novel. Bear in mind, the translation is only updated through chapter seven so far and major changes could well very happen later on. My scope is limited to what has been made available.

That being said, in the chapters dedicated to World 2, we pretty much only get Phupha's perspective. Kram is present, as are Tai and Wayu briefly, but we don't get a whole lot of them and we don't spend any time in their point of view. Again, with that one major and also one minor exception.

The Prologue

Because the prologue takes place in World 2, I chose to cover it here instead of in my last post.

In the show, the prologue takes place after Phupha's death and consists of some flashes of his relationship with Kram as Kram walks along the edge of the waterfall. He drops Phupha's locket into the water, falls in while trying to reach for it, you know the rest.

In the novel, the prologue opens with Kram lost in the forest, also after Phupha's death. From his mention of a legend, we can infer that something happened surrounding Moonshadow cave but we don't know what.

Kram is distraught and crying and all he wants is to go home, but when he makes it out of the forest and arrives at the place is house is supposed to be, it isn't there.

Speaking of legends...

Moonshadow Cave

The mechanics surrounding the waterfall haven't quite been fully explained in the novel yet, only alluded to, but changes have been made here as well. Mostly out of necessity.

In the show, travel between worlds becomes possible on nights when the water turns blue and glowy.

In the novel, however, it's unclear whether conditions for travel between worlds exist. There's no mention of specific times or the water turning blue, but there is mention of a whirlpool near the bottom of the pool that's fed by the waterfall.

I suspect therein lies the mechanic that allows travel but again, it just hasn't been explained yet.

How Things Start Off

The show opens in World 1 with Kram but the novel opens in World 2 with Phupha.

(As an aside, I should mention that in the novel, the worlds are differentiated by 'present day' and '5 years ago'. The chapters that begin with '5 years ago' take place in what the show establishes as World 1 and the chapters that begin with 'present day' take place in World 2. It's helpful to keep that in mind if you do what I did and go to the novel after the show.)

Phupha wakes up from a nightmare wherein he dreamt he was being murdered. He has a headache but nothing to take for it, so he decides to go to the drugstore and feels someone watching him as he walks.

We learn that he has been having nightmares about being murdered for a while now and as he's in the store, he notices a figure staring at him from across the street. He can't tell who it is and when he looks again, they're gone. We also learn that about a month ago, someone slipped a note under his apartment door warning him that someone was plotting against him.

He feels himself being watched again as he leaves the store but can't see anyone. As he tries to shake off his unease, he gets a call from Wayu telling him that there's a problem with the "new kid" that's about to start working with them.

Wayu has learned that despite a very convincing fake ID, absolutely everything about this new kid is fake. Wayu suspects the involvement of the gambling mafia but Phupha tells him not to do anything.

The New Kid

Yeah, it's Kram.

The Interview

The next day Phupha is meant to go to see Auntie Lhu with Kram, but before they go we get a flashback to the interview, which if you'll recall is where Kram meets alternate Phupha officially in the show.

There are only a few details that are different. The interview goes just about as well in the novel as it does in the show but here, our boy Kram is a lot more timid and hesitant as Phupha asks him questions. He also doesn't play the nepo baby card when Phupha tells him to leave. Kram simply tells him that he can't because Auntie Lhu told him to come find Phupha.

It's also Phupha who says that if Kram wants the job, then that meeting with Auntie Lhu has to take place. Kram agrees and calls Phupha "your grace (khun chai)" which feels familiar to Phupha for reasons he can't explain.

The Trip to the Waterfall

There are a few more differences here than there are in the interview. Because we spend so much more time with Kram and Tai, the show just kind of cuts to Kram and Phupha at the waterfall. In the novel, we get some lead up.

The interview takes place in a flashback the morning Phupha and Kram are set to go to the waterfall. They drive there together in one car while Wayu and some guards following in another car. On the way, Phupha confronts Kram about lying about his identity and tries to talk to him about the why but Kram apologizes but he's being kinda cagey.

At one point he calls Phupha "khun chai" again and when Phupha tells him not to, Kram responds that that's what he used to call him and doesn't explain further.

Once they get as far as they can by car, the two continue by foot. Kram leads Phupha up the mountain just like he did in World 1 because Auntie Lhu's house is a good way up. Phupha gets tired and dizzy part way through the hike so Kram suggests they stop to rest at Moonshadow cave.

Phupha doesn't want to rest for very long because he doesn't wanna be late for the meeting but Kram keeps insisting because of the height and Phupha's tiredness and accidentally slips and mentions Phupha's mother's death. Only Phupha hasn't mentioned his mother at all and things immediately go south.

Phupha is demanding answers but Kram ain't giving any so Phupha tries to leave. Except he can't, because KRAM PULLS A GUN ON HIM.

WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN, KRAM?

He says he's not going to do anything and just wants Phupha to jump into the waterfall. Phupha refuses, Kram fires a warning shot, Phupha still refuses. So Kram decides to forget about the gun and rushes Phupha instead.

The two of them tumble over the edge and fall into the pool. Kram is still holding onto Phupha, who sees the whirlpool at the bottom. Fearing getting sucked into it, he punches Kram until he lets go and swims to safety.

Phupha emerges from the water. Kram does not.

Post-Waterfall Aftermath

Once again, instead of cutting to the aftermath, we get some lead up. And get to spend some time in Wayu's perspective.

Seeing Phupha's car but no Phupha, Wayu and the guards begin to look for him. They follow a stream that leads to the pool and find Kram trying to get out of it. They help him and Kram tells them that he and Phupha fell into the water accidentally. Wayu doesn't buy it.

We switch back to Phupha's perspective. He's in the forest trying to make his way back to his car but spots Wayu's car instead. Wayu is very relieved to see him and repeats the story that Kram had told him.

Phupha is very surprised that Kram is alive and in the car, so he tells Wayu the truth about what happened and suggests they take Kram to The Archive to get some answers.

Something else they cut out of the show is that as they're all driving out of the forest, they're stopped by Auntie Lhu. She asks them to let Kram go but they refuse since they believe Kram tried to kill Phupha. They go back and forth for a bit until Phupha gets fed up and decides they'll leave on foot if she won't let their cars through.

Kram tells Auntie Lhu that he'll go with Phupha and she relents and lets them leave.

The Archive

'The Archive' is the rather ominous name given to the secret prison Phupha takes Kram to in order to extract answers from him. Phupha's aunt (the one we know later betrays him) uses it to do shady shit for the benefit of the family company.

Things here happen pretty much the same as they do in the show, except for the fact that it's a guard who beats Kram instead instead of Wayu and Phupha is angrier and a bit more involved than he is in the show.

Kram passes out and it's at this point that things deviate.

As Phupha gets lost in thought because of all the shit going on and the warning Kram reiterated, a shot rings out behind him. One of the guards in the room with them has fired at the ceiling and demands that they untie Kram.

Surprise except not really because the guard is Tai!

Tai forces Phupha, Wayu, and the other guard into a cell at gunpoint and before he leaves with Kram, he once again reiterates to Phupha that his life is in danger from the person closest to him. Not only that, he tells Phupha exactly how he's going to be killed and surprise-not-really-surprise, it's the same as in the nightmares that Phupha has been having.

The Stabbing of Viroj (Once More with Feeling)

The conversation Phupha has with his father Adisak after Tai and Kram escape The Archive happens pretty much the same as in the show. Adisak wants him to go abroad, Phupha doesn't want to, etc. The only thing I'll note is that Phupha is thrown off and a little hurt by how much his aunt agrees with Adisak since she's the person he's closest to because she practically raised him. She even says she wants him to go so he won't die!

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON. DANGER!

Just as he does in the show, Phupha goes to visit Viroj after talking to Adisak but in the novel we get to see a bit more of the relationship between Phupha and Run before shit hits the fan.

It's not made entirely clear in the show, but Run isn't Viroj's biological daughter. She was a foster daughter he later adopted. Phupha seems very attracted to her, he cares for her a lot, and believes they're very well suited, but isn't entirely sure if it's love.

Phupha is waiting for her to bring her work to his bedroom so they can spend some time together that he hears her scream.

We know what happens next. Viroj is stabbed, although the wound isn't too deep. Phupha has his hemophilia realization, calls for help, help won't come, so he decides to take Viroj to the hospital himself. And because of the incident with Tai back at The Archive, Phupha believes he's somehow stopping help from coming to them.

As Phupha, Run, and Viroj are on their way to a hospital in the next province, Phupha calls his dad Adisak, who in turn calls help. The call goes the same as it did in World 1; somehow the hospital knows that Viroj was stabbed despite Phupha not having told that particular detail to Adisak.

The Crash

In the show, Phupha gets run off the road by the masked man he after manages to get Viroj to the hospital and learns the truth of his parentage from him.

In the novel, they never make it to the hospital and Phupha doesn't learn the truth from Viroj. Instead he learns the truth from Wayu, who he'd asked to dig into some information and who learns that Adisak was sterile and thus couldn't have been Phupha's biological father.

As they're driving, Run notices that they're being followed. The car is flashing its high beams at them and honking continuously but Phupha doesn't slow down or pull over.

Turns out the people following them are Tai and Kram. Tai is shouting for Phupha to stop but of course, Phupha refuses. He does think it's strange that Tai and Kram should appear precisely now but his gut tells him that they don't want to hurt him.

Unfortunately up ahead there's a pickup truck blocking the road and Phupha doesn't see it in time to avoid it. He swerves, side-swipes the truck, and the car ends up flipping a couple of times.

The wreck is approached by a thoroughly fucking creepy and psychopathic masked man whose perspective I personally really did NOT need to spend any time in, and the chapter ends with him detailing his plan.

And that, beloved reader, is where the translation leaves off for now. The only thing I left out is a huge flashback about Viroj and Adisak's history that spans like a chapter and a half. I left it out because despite giving us a lot of insight into them, it's not quite within the scope of me detailing the differences in the main plot of the show and the novel.

I could write an entire essay on them alone. I already had a lot of feelings about Viroj in the show because he's such a tragic figure, and he's even more tragic in the novel. There's a lot of love in my queer little heart for his character and it broke for him.

I am going to keep reading the novel as it's updated because it really is a fascinating story despite being so convoluted. I'm having a great time reading it. Obviously I'm not going to keep writing about the differences because who knows how long it'll take to complete the translation, could be a year from now.

But if there's anything you wanna know, feel free to ask!

#two worlds #two worlds the series #two worlds spoilers #two worlds novel #two worlds novel spoilers

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